Talks confirmed for Korean stake in UK Horizon nuclear project

28 July 2017

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) confirmed today it is in talks about "cooperation" with Horizon Nuclear Power, which is planning to build two large reactors at Wylfa Newydd in Wales.

KHNP said that Hitachi Japan had proposed cooperation with Horizon, its fully-owned UK project company, and that "KHNP is in the early stages of examining various aspects of cooperation from a practical point of view."

The company said there had been no discussion with Horizon of a role operating nuclear reactors.

How Wylfa Newydd could look in the mid-2020s (Image: Horizon)

Horizon is pursuing a project to construct two Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWRs) at Wylfa Newydd on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. Horizon is owned by Hitachi and the reactors would be supplied by Hitachi-GE. The ABWR is undergoing regulatory assessment, with construction start estimated to begin in 2019.

KHNP is a South Korean utility which owns and operates 24 reactors across seven sites to provide the country with 30% nuclear electricity. The technology comes from Kepco, another state-owned company, which developed its own pressurised water reactor designs from Westinghouse units imported in the early 1980s as well as a full domestic supply chain. Kepco is leading the construction of four of its latest model, the APR-1400, in the UAE and is also rumoured to be interested in the UK market.